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Congressman Rahall's team is letting folks know that tickets are available starting today for the debate between himself and the disgraced Spike Maynard. This is the first of two debates mentioned in an earlier post by Heath Harrison that can be read here.
The debate will take place at Bluefield High School's auditorium at 7:00pm on September 7th. Tickets can be picked up in advance at WVVA's offices on Hwy 460 in Bluefield or at The Bluefield Daily Telegraph's office on Bluefield Avenue in downtown Bluefield. Individuals are limited to 4 advance tickets.
We need a strong crowd at this debate to support the Congressman. Get your tickets today for this event. (Of course we can't be sure that Maynard will even show up)
From the Charleston Daily Mail, we learn of the the disgraced judge's first TV spot of the fall.
It's more of the same conservative-by-numbers stuff Maynard's been pushing all year, complete with scary references to the "War on Coal"TM and images of President Obama and Speaker Pelosi.
Then Maynard, the former Democratic Supreme Court justice, appears on screen wearing the reflective overalls that are worn by many miners. He is shown talking to miners and appears in front of a pile of coal.
Seriously?
Is this photo op supposed to make us to believe this guy is the kind of blue collar person who would toil in the mines?
It's kind of hard to portray yourself as one of the workin' men when everyone's seen photos of you sipping champagne on the French Riviera with the company owner, and read e-mails to your vacation buddy where you mocked the idea of mine safety.
However, Maynard's opponent, Congressman Nick Rahall, has long stood up for the interests of workers in the coal industry, working tirelessly on issues like mine safety and black lung benefits. His record shows whose side he's on, and he doesn't need to put on a costume to speak to miners.
Metro News reports that the ethically-bankrupt FOX News cast member will be coming to help raise funds for Republican David McKinley's bid for for Congress.
Dick Morris, a nationally syndicated columnist and best selling author who used to be a Senior Advisor to President Bill Clinton, will be part of a 5:30 p.m. rally on Wednesday, September first in Downtown Parkersburg.
Morris has a huge track record of being a proven liar and, earlier this year, had to admit that ads he ran in the district were factually wrong. But that doesn't stop John Raese's mouthpiece Hoppy Kercheval and the WV GOP from treating him like a hero and acting like he has something of value to bring to West Virginia.
The votes are almost counted, and Gov. Joe Manchin and teabagger John Raese have won their nominations handily, with each earning over 70 percent of the vote.
This comes as a surprise to no one, given the governor's popularity and the amount of ads on Raese's side.
Former Congressman and WV Secretary of State Ken Hechler is coming in with about 18 percent - a respectable protest vote for a 95-year -old candidate on a small budget.
Look for Manchin to step up his public appearances and presence on the airwaves as we we move into the general election campaign.
A note on turnout, via the Gazette:
Secretary of State Natalie Tennant said the election came off without a hitch, but estimated voter turnout at 20 percent. She originally hoped that 25 percent of West Virginia's registered voters would go to the polls Saturday. She said the last time West Virginia held a Saturday election, voter turnout was 14 percent.
On the eve of the special election primary, Ken Hechler attended a member and supporter picnic hosted by the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition in Barboursville.
Earlier in the day, Hechler stopped by the studios of WRVC AM in Huntington, where he took his message to the voters in an hour-long segment on Bobby Nelson's "Tri-State Talk."
The audio of the discussion of his U.S. Senate candidacy can be found here.
Note: The OVEC event was not a "Meet the Candidates" event, as previously reported
I worked on Capitol Hill for a long time, and I do not consider myself naive about the inner workings of Washington. But even I was surprised by two revelations this week exposing the amount of money the oil industry is spending to buy political influence.
The first eye-opener came from recently released lobbying numbers. The OpenSecrets blog reported that the oil and gas industry poured $174 million into the political system in 2009. That's eight times more than the green groups.
What did the oil and gas industry get for its money? A handful of Senators who blocked all attempts by the Senate to pass a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill that would have made fossil fuel industries start cleaning up their global warming pollution.
This week's second revelation made that difference abundantly clear. Jane Mayer wrote an investigative piece in the New Yorker about the brothers David and Charles Koch who run Koch Industries -- the biggest corporation you've never heard of -- and who have spent more than $100 million on anti-government causes.
Koch Industries owns oil refineries and 4,000 miles of pipeline, and was named one of the top 10 air polluters in the nation in a 2010 UMass-Amherst report. The Kochs' political donations are often aimed at promoting their libertarian views, but they also directly benefit their own profit margins. They have donated millions of dollars to nonprofit groups that fight environmental regulation and seed doubt about climate science. In fact, a Greenpeace report called them a "kingpin of climate science denial." And though green groups tend to paint ExxonMobil as the worst of the worst when it comes to lobbying against climate legislation, Koch outspent even ExxonMobil.
One of David Koch's pet projects is the group Americans for Prosperity, a group he founded and funds but positions as a grassroots movement. An ad for one of its training sessions for Tea Party activists says, "The voices of average Americans are being drowned out by lobbyists and special interests. But you can do something about it."
But when Americans for Prosperity hosts at least 80 events protesting climate legislation, is it really acting in the interest of average Americans or the interest of oil industry donors?
When it funds an attack ad against Representative Betsey Markey from Colorado because she supported climate legislation last summer that would have brought 30,000 jobs to her state, who is it benefiting?
And when the group pledges to spend an additional $45 million before the midterm elections, is that money really coming from grassroots activists, or from deep corporate pockets? These fat cats pretend to fraternize with the ordinary folks who dangle tea bags from their tri-cornered hats, but, in fact, they are just using activists to put a populist face on their industry agenda.
Manipulating other people's fears about the economy when you are a billionaire -- I would call that the depth of cynicism. But considering those billionaires are getting in the way of climate solutions, clean energy and green jobs in America; I have to instead call it dangerous.
Joe Hamsher and Sarah Seeds, activists with Climate Ground Zero, were arrested this morning while blocking the entrance to the headquarters of the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). They have been charged with trespassing, obstruction of justice and disrupting government processes. Their bail was set at $5000 dollars each. Hamsher has posted bail. Seeds remains locked up at South Central Regional Jail in Kanawha County.
The protesters chained themselves to a metal barrel in front of the DEP and remained locked to the barrel for an hour and a half. They sought to condemn the DEP for sanctioning mountaintop removal mining and for failing to enforce the Clean Water Act.
- Ken Hechler's campaign made a stop in Huntington over the weekend.
It's nice to see a candidate actually taking time to travel the state and meet the voters, and not simply coasting on the idea of inevitability or the size of his bank account.
- 13 of the 14 candidates appeared at a forum in the eastern panhandle. Gov. Manchin had a prior commitment at the W.Va. State Fair and did not attend.
- A new poll from MindField shows Manchin trouncing Raese by 22 points, 54 - 32. The Aug. 6 interviews were conducted in the early part of Raese's media blitz, and the full effect of his ads had not been felt yet. But, so far, it's looking like the low-thirties numbers he keeps getting in polls may very well be the ceiling on his support - as was the case when Raese's last campaign was crushed by Senator Byrd in 2006.
It's clear that the Republican Party would rather talk about wedge issues instead of offering real ideas to improve the lives of Americans.
In response to their latest faux outrage issue of the day, I've reached the conclusion that they're correct... Rev. Jeremiah Wright should NOT perform gay marriages or abortions for illegal immigrants in a mosque at Ground Zero.
As for the proposed islamic community center in the former Burlington Coats Factory 2 blocks AWAY from the perimeter of Ground Zero, I think government should NOT interfere with religious organizations by deciding where church buildings are allowed to be located.
If someone wanted to build a YMCA or a Methodist Church there, no one would care. Freedom of religion should apply to all faiths - not just Christianity.
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